The Chosen
by Medie
Summary: In a fantasy world, the Seven are drawn together by forces unseen for an unknown destiny.


Disclaimers: Well, since Santa didn't answer my wish, I don't own these  
guys...the M7 gang belong to their production company.  
  
Category: Chris/Mary Romance. Alternate Universe. Fantasy-fic.   
  
Spoilers: None for the show  
  
Summary: In a LOTRish fantasy world, the Seven come together in a quest for  
Mary's freedom.  
  
Author's note: This AU's an experiment for me. It was born of the Fantasy M7  
Wheel and is definitely out there for me. The characters names have been   
altered as little as possible but the spelling of Mary's has become Mairi.  
  
This is not directly inspired from the LOTR movie since I haven't even seen  
it yet but it does have a bit of a LOTR feel to it. This may become a series,  
depending on my mood.  
  
The Chosen  
by M  
------  
"We're meant to be together."  
  
Her voice never failed to fascinate him. It changed and adjusted to fit   
whatever situation she found herself in: commanding and authoritative when  
she ruled, light and pleasant when she was amongst friends, soft and husky  
when she lay in his arms; fresh from loving.  
  
He covered his thoughts with a teasing smile. "Your Goddess tell you that?"  
  
Her crystalline eyes softened with laughter. "Among other things, She tells  
me much." Her body moved closer to his, the silk of her hair sliding about   
them both. "But not this time; this time I speak my own words."  
  
One fingertip traced a delicately arched ear. "Ok, why do you say it?" he   
already suspected the answer but he asked anyway.  
  
"I feel it." She replied softly. "In my soul there is a connection, Chris,  
it binds us together stronger than any incantation could. No matter where we  
go, what happens to us, I'll be there and you'll be near. It matters little   
what we face . . . that is how it ever will be."  
  
"That a prophecy, my Queen?" He questioned her. His words sending a shiver   
down her spine. Only he could unsettle her so thoroughly with an honorific   
she heard daily, had grown accustomed to. Only he could make her feel as if   
she were his to do with as he pleased. With him their roles reversed. She,   
the subject, he the ruler. Only with him would she allow that. Only with him  
would she become such.  
  
"Prophecy?" Mairi answered thoughtfully, distracted by his hands moving across  
her skin. "Perhaps . . . but it is also a certainty. You feel it too. I see  
it in your eyes. You fear it."  
  
Her wise words and knowing eyes pierced the walls that surrounded his heart  
and soul. Like they always did. Like he always did, he couldn't answer. Answering  
would have meant he would have had to tell her. Tell her everything and he   
couldn't do that.  
  
He suspected she knew but until he actually spoke the words, he could pretend  
she didn't. Pretend, for now, that his past had never been. Pretend it was all  
a distant and horrific dream. Pretend the Baron was all that he'd ever been.  
  
Lowering his mouth to hers, Chris allowed himself to be lost in the Elven Queen  
and the still-fragile love that grew between them. For now, it was all that  
mattered.  
  
-*-*-*-*-  
  
"Pretty."  
  
The quiet voice of the mysterious Tanner pulled Chris from his memory and he  
glanced back at the lean figure standing in shadow. "Yeah."  
  
The man who was known only as Tanner ghosted forward and took a seat next to  
him. "Thinkin' about the Queen?" At the Baron's nod, he turned his gaze to   
the night-covered countryside. "Mighty impressive what she's done here. Not  
everybody could keep goin' like she did. Make somethin' of this place."  
  
The man at his side smiled wryly. "Mairi's an impressive woman."  
  
"Powerful too." The manner in which the wanderer spoke was carefully neutral,  
but gauging. "Goddess doesn't pick just anybody t'be High Priestess."  
  
Chris fixed a sharp gaze on his newfound friend but saw no fear or intimidation.  
The only thing he saw was respect and knowledge. "No one outside her inner   
circle knows that. How did you . . . "  
  
"Just did." The enigmatic man shrugged. "Have a way of knowin' stuff. Folks  
don't have to tell me much. I figure it out for myself."  
  
"Seems to me Mairi isn't the only one who has a few secrets." The Baron   
decided quietly.  
  
Tanner's knowing eyes were reminiscent of Mairi's. "No, she's not."  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
It was a ragtag group that stood in the castle's throne room the following  
morning. Small and unimpressive, they looked at each other apprehensively.  
The Baron had brought each of them to the castle over a number of days. Each  
had been selected for reasons known only to him and each would serve some   
vital purpose known only to him. None of them knew exactly what that purpose  
was.  
  
Tanner was the first Chosen. A mystery even to himself he seemed to speak   
little while seeing much. The Baron had chosen him to guide them, using his  
mysterious skills to track the route the Queen's abductors had taken.   
  
The next man was Nathan, an honorable, respected, and much beloved healer   
from the nearest town to the castle. He'd joined them when the Baron and   
Tanner had rescued him fro a group of wanderers who enjoyed killing for   
killing's sake. Nathan had watched the land flourish under the Queen's rule  
and knew she served her people as much as she could with all that was   
available to her. He respected and loved her for that and saw the honor in  
being Chosen for what it was.   
  
The third man to join them was Buck. A traveler and a mercenary, he'd come  
from the same faraway land that had birthed their enigmatic leader and had   
known the Baron for many years. Where Larabee was closed off and aloof, the  
newcomer was friendly and welcoming. Yet, after speaking with his old friend,  
he too said nothing of the past.  
  
A trickster, Ezra, had been the next one chosen. He was a man who made his way  
in the world by deceiving, conning, and fooling others. A 'magician' by trade,  
no one knew why the Baron had chosen him but none asked. They merely accepted  
his presence because their leader did.  
  
The eldest of the Chosen was Josiah. He seemed to keep his own counsel on all  
things, speaking only when he had a word of great importance or wisdom to   
share. Few knew any more about him than the fact he was a monk who'd taken  
on the daunting task of rebuilding an ancient temple from the ruins lying on   
the outskirts of the village. Some said he'd been a very powerful and ruthless  
warlord how'd seen the light of the Goddess and repented of his deeds to follow  
Her. Others said he'd always been a servant of the Goddess but one who dealt   
with swift blow of vengeance in Her name.  
  
Neither the Baron nor Nathan, who'd first spoken of him, was sure which of   
those rumors was the truth. They only knew that the older monk's eyes were   
haunted, speaking of someone who'd endured much suffering and seen much death  
and that he belonged with their search.  
  
The Baron expected to find these men waiting for him in the throne room but   
when he arrived, he found more than just those men.  
  
"Who's he?" the leader nodded his head at the young elf in the bright uniform  
of the castle guard.  
  
Buck seemed to materialize at his side. "Says he's called JD. Only survivor   
of the guards that were with the Queen when Lord Fowler attacked and took   
her. Says he needs t'come with us, owes it to her. Says the Goddess told a  
Priestess it's his destiny to go." His old friend took a slow breath. "Boy  
damn near died in the attack, Chris. He needs t'do this."  
  
"Think we should let him come?"  
  
The mercenary sighed. "Boy's damn determined. We leave him here and he'll   
just follow."  
  
The Baron's eyes moved to the two women in the group. "Them?"  
  
Buck smiled. "Two of the Queen's handmaidens. Older one's called Inez. Elf  
and a Priestess. She came with Mairi from Mirell. Other one's Rain. Nathan  
says she's from the village. Chosen by the Queen to be one of her personal   
bodyguards. Blames herself for the kidnappin' near as I can figure."  
  
"She a Priestess too?"  
  
"Accordin' to Inez, she's being trained. Has power but she's no elf. Just a  
mystery."  
  
"No one's ever just a mystery." The Baron corrected, moving forward.  
  
The young guard began to speak but the elder man silenced him with a look.   
"You can stay, all of you." He nodded at them. "For now at least, minute I   
decide anyone's hindering in the rescue, you'll be left behind without complaint,  
understood?"  
  
They all nodded and kept speaking.  
  
"We know Lord Fowler's Elven. He's headed for his fortress in the Burnari Mountains."  
  
"Darkness lives in those mountains." Rain murmured, lowering the hood of her cloak.  
  
Josiah spoke, his rich tones seeming to fill the room with little to no effort.   
"Fowler's protected by a sorceress. No one knows her name, or they are too   
fearful to speak it, all say she is well versed in the Dark Arts and Fowler  
does her bidding no matter what it is. It is she who most likely made the   
decision that Queen Mairi must be taken."  
  
"Why?" JD questioned, her dark eyes burning with rage.  
  
"Mairi's of noble *Elven* blood." Inez interjected. "A union with her would  
give him control of these lands and right to claim title to Mirell. The Elven  
home. He would stain the purity of that place with a darkness that could never  
be cleansed." She swallowed and did not dare look at the Baron as she added,  
"Any child born of that union would give him such claims. The throne of our   
people and yours."  
  
They all wisely chose not to look at their leader. The rage washing off him   
was easily felt by each of them and to look at him was to risk being consumed  
by that fiery anger.  
  
"He won't have her." The Baron vowed in a lethal tone. "I'll kill him first."  
He closed his eyes, seeking out the calm that had been so elusive in the short  
time since she'd been taken from him. "How long do we have?"  
  
"If Fowler wishes the union to be legitimate, he must wait until the birth of  
the new moon before the wedding ritual can be performed. Not even his sorceress  
would dare defy the Goddess by holding it before then. It would bean risking   
both life and what lies beyond to do so." Inez replied after a moment's thought.  
  
"We got time to catch up then." Buck decided softly. His gaze on the map of   
the Kingdom. "Fowler has only a few days ride on us and I'd be surprised if   
he expects us to follow so soon."  
  
"He's expecting us." The Baron disagreed. "Make no mistake. Lord Fowler is   
not a foolish man. He expects challenge." His eyes hardened into glittering   
shards. "What he'll get is death incarnate."  
  
Turning, he strode from the room, black cloak swirling out around him like a  
living thing.  
  
"Let's ride." The other man said for him, his tall body leading the way after  
Larabee.  
  
-*-*-*-*-  
  
"We're meant to be together."  
  
Her own words echoed in her mind as Mairi of Mirell, the Eastern Land of the   
Elven peoples, stared up at the stars.  
  
'Can you hear me, Chris?' She asked the darkness silently, not daring to voice  
the words for fear of what her captor would do. 'Does your heart feel mine as  
I do yours?'  
  
She smoothed down her skirts as she hugged her slim legs to her chest.  
  
'I know you will come, Beloved, we are meant to be together,' Blond hair fell  
around her shoulders as she moved her head, shaking free of the pins that held  
it up, releasing it down her back. 'I have been assured by the Lady that you   
are protected. A sacred fellowship surrounds you and it is only through that   
fellowship that we can be reunited.'  
  
She inhaled slowly. 'I'll be there, you'll be near, that's the way, I know this,  
Beloved.' Her gaze returned to the stars. 'I'll be there, wherever and whenever  
we are reunited . . . though I know . . . Soon, Beloved, it will be soon.'  
  
-*-*-*-*-  
  
"And so it begins . . . "  
  
"The Fellowship assembled . . . "  
  
"Much lies ahead. Much will be asked of them . . . "  
  
"They dare not fail."  
  
"They will not fail."  
  
  
Finis 


End file.
